On the recordSeptember 13, 2016
This past weekend I met with members of the Syrian community in Charleston, West Virginia, to discuss ways that the Federal Government can help the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria. This is us meeting. In particular, we discussed H.R. 5732, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016. The bill would hold Syrian human rights abusers accountable for their crimes. The bill would impose sanctions on individuals who do business with dictator al-Assad's brutal regime and would require the President to publish a list of people who are complicit in the grave human rights violations that have occurred and continue to unfold in Syria. Despite promises and agreements to the contrary, chemical weapons are still being used regularly by the Assad regime in Syria. We cannot look the other way while innocent children are murdered. I am a proud cosponsor of this critical bill, and I thank my colleagues, Congressman Eliot Engel and Chairman Ed Royce, for introducing it. I encourage the leadership here in the House to bring the bill to the floor for a vote immediately. The innocent Syrian people have suffered enough. The current civil war has resulted in 4 million refugees and nearly 500,000 killed. My mother fled Fidel Castro's Communist Cuba after being unjustly thrown in jail by Fidel Castro's tyrannical Communist regime. We must protect persecuted individuals who have no one to stand up for them. ____________________
